Surprise baby! The Big C actress Laura Linney, 49, has given birth to her first child after keeping her pregnancy a secret

But today, representatives for Laura Linney confirmed the actress she gave birth to a baby boy on Wednesday.

It is the first child for the 49-year-old actress and her husband, real estate agent Marc Schauer.

Surprise baby: Laura Linney gave birth to her first child on January 7 after keeping her pregnancy a secret. The star hasn't been photographed in public since the Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards in Los Angeles in June

Laura has named her son Bennett Armistead Schauer, her representatives confirmed.

The actress and her husband married in May 2009, after a three-year engagement.

The beautiful blonde has been lying low since her appearance at Women in Film's 2013 Crystal + Lucy
Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in June, when she was only a few
weeks into her pregnancy.

New parents: The 49-year-old and her husband Marc Schauer, pictured at the Screen Actors Guild awards in Los Angeles in 2009, managed to hide Laura's baby bump throughout her term

On that evening she hid her figure in a loose black pinafore dress over a puff-sleeved white blouse.

The actress didn't even turn up to receive her fourth Emmy for best actress for Showtime's The Big C at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles in September, when her baby bump would have been showing.

Presenter Matt Damon accepted the award on Laura's behalf, joking: 'She's such a great actress that she didn't even need to show up.'

Golden girl: Laura looked slender in a shimmering frock at the Hyde Park On Hudson Film premiere in New York in October 2012

Meanwhile, she gave an interview to Moviefone days before the October 19 release of her film, The Fifth Estate, presumably over the phone since there was no mention of Laura's delicate state.

But the actress did say she was 'taking a little time off,' which allowed her to binge-watch TV shows.

She added: 'I've watched "House of Cards" in, like, two days. I did all of "Breaking Bad" in the past few months. I watched "Top of the Lake" in one sitting. It's fantastic. It's really fun.'

A-ward winner: The Big C star did not turn up to receive her Emmy for actress for her role in the Showtime series in September, when she would have been 12 weeks away from giving birth

Laura innocently said she had no idea what she was going to do in the upcoming months.

The cagey star said: 'I'm not making plans. I'm trying to clear the slate and give
myself a little time to breathe and then we'll see. And then it's the
life of an actor -- you never know. So far, so good.'

Twelve weeks later she and Marc welcomed their baby boy.

As for Bennett's name, Laura has starred in several TV miniseries based on Armistead Maupin's Tales Of The City and is said to be a fan of the author.